Direct Current #17/Box Office 1987

ITEM!  Examiner - The next Star Wars director should be Gore Verbinski
The hot news everyone's talking about is Disney's acquisition of Star Wars, and while I've mentioned my idea already at Geek Twins, I figured I'd make a full thought of it over at Examiner, now that I'm writing there again.  Verbinski's experience with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies is not only relevant, it's downright uncanny...

Read more here.

ITEM!  Tony Laplume - Digital proof that my comics career is moving forward
This is something I've been working toward since 2004 (although much earlier when you consider just wild dreams), seeing my name referenced as writer in a comic book.  A biography comic may not be the most prestigious or creative work available in comics, but that's what I've got as my launching pad.

Read more here.

ITEM!  Sigild V - Orica and the Troll
I don't do a lot of outright fantasy writing.  This one was the product of an anthology I entered and have now presumed (unless they're taking a really long time) didn't get into.  I figured it was still worth sharing.

Read more here.

ITEM!  Star Trek Fan Companion - Enterprise 2x17 "Canamar"
Another episode featuring Trip, but this time Archer steals the show as they both find themselves on a prison transport ship and attempt to make out alive.

Read more here.

SOAP BOX

My look at the biggest box offices hits continues with 1987:

1. Three Men and a Baby ($167 mil)
Are you ready?  Good.  This one was directed by Leonard Nimoy.  No, seriously.  It also stars Tom Selleck (who passed on Indiana Jones, so was karmically owed a hit movie), Ted Danson (a successful TV actor receiving his obligatory '80s movie hit), and Steve Guttenberg (later revealed by The Simpsons to be a conspiracy of the ancient Stonecutters society, later renamed the No Homers Club).  I still haven't seen it.

2. Fatal Attraction ($156 mil)
Michael Douglas (still being a huge success) and Glenn Close (I'm sorry, but she creeps me out) star in one of several signature weirdo relationship dramas from the period.

3. Beverly Hills Cop II ($153 mil)
Eddie Murphy again, totally not keeping himself famous by starring in a sequel to a bigger hit.

4. Good Morning, Vietnam ($123 mil)
I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I still haven't seen this Robin Williams hit.  A lot of people soured on Williams in the '90s, but even with his increasingly complicated career choices I remain a fan.  Which means I really need to finally watch this movie.

5. Moonstruck ($80 mil)
Yeah, so Cher is the star of this movie.  She's officially the most successful eccentric pop music female personality to try acting.  Although perhaps this one's better known as a breakout appearance for Nicolas Cage.  Don't worry.  He did not freak out at its success.  Nicolas Cage always keeps his cool.

6. The Untouchables ($76 mil)
A lot of things worth noting about this one.  Highlander may have kicked off this phase of his career, but Sean Connery officially transitions into the go-to old guy mentor role in this one.  It's also a glorious return to the gangster flick.  It features Robert De Niro, and is perhaps his first notable role since Raging Bull at the start of the decade.  It's also Kevin Costner's first big hit.  In the next few years, he would briefly, basically, own Hollywood.

7. The Secret of My Success ($66 mil)
The secret of this movie's success is that it stars Michael J. Fox.  Otherwise what else would you know about it?

8. Stakeout ($65 mil)
This may be the reason Richard Dreyfuss became a known commodity (I mean, he wasn't exactly ubiquitous after Close Encounters of the Third Kind).  Also responsible, theoretically, for Emilio Estevez.  Until I just researched it for this, I had no idea what it was about.  Knowing that it stars Dreyfuss, I may have to put more interest into it.

9. Lethal Weapon ($65 mil)
Hello, career of Mel Gibson!  Nice of you to join the top ten!  Notably, he plays a crazy person.  Should you really be surprised, people of 2012?  Should you?

10. The Witches of Eastwick ($63 mil)
Based on a book by John Updike, stars Cher (!), Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Despite the fact that I've basically only known it as a movie title (and a notable hit), it has still inspired spinoffs, including another book by Updike and a TV series.

Other notable movies: Dirty Dancing ($63 mil; apparently ten other movies puts it in a corner), Predator ($59 mil; have you noticed yet that Arnold's movies to this point rarely crack the top ten?), Dragnet ($57 mil; based on a TV show!), La Bamba (based on the life of one of the other two guys who died in the same crash as Buddy Holly! stars Lou Diamond Phillips!), Robocop ($53 mil), The Living Daylights ($51 mil; Timothy Dalton as Bond), Eddie Murphy Raw ($50 mil), Planes, Trains and Automobiles ($49 mil), Full Metal Jacket ($46 mil), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors ($44 mil), Wall Street ($43 mil; smallish take, but greed is still good, Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas), Roxanne ($40 mil; Steve Martin), The Running Man ($38 mil; another smallish gross for Arnold Schwarzenegger), Spaceballs ($38 mil; legendary Mel Brooks parody), The Lost Boys ($32 mil; two many Coreys for 1987 audiences), The Princess Bride ($30 mil; only nearly dead at the box office), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise ($30 mil), Harry and the Hendersons ($29 mil; many still don't believe this movie exists), Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol ($28 mil), Overboard ($26 mil; it's a good thing Goldie Hawn found Kurt Russell, because she lost her career at the same time), Ernest Goes to Camp ($23 mil; hey Vern! Ernest still became a cultural touchstone even with a movie that went nowhere!), Raising Arizona ($22 mil; Nicolas Cage again, plus the Coen brothers), Empire of the Sun ($22 mil; apparently Steven Spielberg and Christian Bale couldn't make a hit movie this year), Jaws IV: The Revenge ($20 mil; apparently Michael Caine and a shark couldn't make a hit film this year), Critical Condition ($20 mil; Richard Pryor), Some Kind of Wonderful ($18 mil; John Hughes), Masters of the Universe ($17 mil; somehow I always thought it was a bigger hit than this), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace ($15 mil; this is how you really kill a franchise, Batman and Robin), Hellraiser ($14 mil; although making less for other franchises will give you a franchise), Ishtar ($14 mil; one of the most infamous bombs in Hollywood history), Less Than Zero ($12 mil; to think this might have gone done as Robert Downey Jr.'s most notable starring role)

Source: Box Office Mojo